Johanna ii aeg ex



lfiAEGEN. HAT QR BONNET.

(MOdeL) Patented Apr. 8, 1884.

far/gain 7 7 w JOHAXNA IIAEGEX, OF XFAV YORK, X. Y.

HAT on BONNET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,557. dated April 8,1884.

Application tiled May 26, 1:53. (Moth-l.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

lie it known that I. J 'uI.\.\'.\'.\ lllu-zolax, of Xcwl'ork city,NcwYork,l1ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in llats and Bonnets, of which the following is a specifica tion.

My invention appliesmorc especially to hats and bonnets for ladies and childrens wear; and the object of my invention. is to provide a hat or bonnet which shall possess the valuable commercial quality of novelty, with certain intrinsic advantages important in headwear. Tothis end I form a hat or bonnet from line leather, preferaljily thin-dressed kid or glove leather, the said leather, with its grain side turned outward. forming the ornann-ntal shell or covering of the. hat, which is formed over a foundation of buekram. A but thus formed constitutes a new article of manutneture, and possesses the de ided advantage of attractive novelty, combined with the intrinsic advantage of great lightness, brilliant and dressy amnraranee, durability, and capacity of receiving many artistic kinds of ornamentation to enhance its appearance.

My invention therefore consists, broadly, in a hat thus formed of thin leather, with a foundation of buckram, and also embodies som special features ot'construetion, as hererafter fully set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 presents a per spective view of my improved hat. Fig. 2 is a sectional viewthereof, illustrating my mode of construction.

According to myinvention l procure sheets orskins otanysuitable fine, thin, or light leath ers, preferably ordinary glove-leather or fine upper-leather, preferably kid or substitutes for kid, and these skins are then cut in suit-,

able pieces and pres ed, by the aid of dies in suitable blocking o: pressing machines, into the terms of the desiredhats orbonnets in the same manner that felt hats or buokram frames are now pressed. After the leather sheet is thus pressed into the form of the desired hat,

the rough edge of the leather on the rim of the hat nxayt'hen be trimmed off as usual, and the rim wired in the ordinarymanner. Previous to pressing the leather it may, if necessary, be slightly moistened, and the flesh side may also be brushed over with a good coating of size, and allowed to nearly dry before pressing. The leather wil tin n be in l soft-,plastic state when pressed. impression without firmly afterward, fiz-(l the inner coatingof size will help to stiffen the hat and impart necessary strength thereto. As most of the gloveleathers have not sutlicicnt strength to endure such pressing unsupported. I therefore place or paste the leather sh ct. llcsh side down. upon a sheet of moistcm-d buckram or other suitable fabric-for instance, thin canvas or stout mper-and then press the compound sheet between the blocking or forming dies, the leather, of course, being outermost, asthis process will thoroughly pr 'itect the leather and enable the material to take and retain a perfect impression, and will form a very light, strong, and handsome hat. This construction is shown in section in 2, in which (I indicatcsthe external layer of leather, with its dressed or grainside out rmost, forming the ornamental covering fabric of the hat, while 1) represents the internal layer of buckram forining the supporting frame or fabric of the hat, This construction I believe will makea hat that will retain its shape better than anyother material now known to me, because the buckram and leather help to sustain each other, which is not the case where the covering of thin, soft material is simplysewed upon a buck ram frame, for in this case the covering has no strengthening etl'cct, whereas my covering coacts with the foundation in stiffening the hat and holding it in shape.

It is obvious that a hat constructed in this way will be very light and durable, leather" being one of the most durable materials, and

will possess abrilliant, dressy appearance, and will be rendered further valuablcin being tiuctly novel. Anothel dressy advantage of this hat is that ahat may be selected to match with the gloves worn by the lady, and thus produce a pleasing and novel harmony in her apparel. Leather has also the further advantage that it may be easily and cheaply 0rnamented with various kinds otembossi11g,which it will readily take and retain, and also may be embroidered with great advantage, it being amaterial admirably adapted to display embossing or embroiderin' The leather will and will readily take an tearing, and will retain it dis- - vious that the leather, in one or more pieces,

vines, or other figures, which will greatly enl also readily receive water or oil colors, and i may be beautifully decorated, by hand-painting, with representations of birds, tlowers,

hance its appearance.

Fig. 1 represents the leather hat decorated in said manner by embossing, embroider-tug, or painting. 7

The soft and brightlyalyed grained surface of the leather is admiral ly adapted to display any of the above-named styles of decoration, and by this means the leather butmay be artistically dressed or decorated without any of the. usual exeresenees of lnillinery, and may i in this way be furnished at a much less price i than ordinary dressed hats, and the hat thus 1 formed will therefore be of a very ornamental character,verythin and light, and well adapt-- ed for summer-wear, and will thus introduce avery artistic and novel variation into ladies dress.

Instead of forming the hats by pressing the leatherby dies, as already deseribed, itis obt rably adapted for the display of the different styles of decorations before referred to, for

which an undressed surface would not be well adapted.

1 am awarethat; a hunt-covering of leather,

persfl, is not new, and I do not make such a claim, for it has been proposed to form a hat of thick or sole leather by slitting a tlat sheet internally. opening the slit sheet bagdike, and then blocking the same into the form of a hat. It; has also been proposed to form a hat from a sheet ofleather by tirst steaming-the leather and then working the steamed sheet into the shape of a hat. by tbrming it; over a wooden block by the aid of moistened pads worked by hand.

\Yhafl I claim is 1. Ahat or bonnet compost-d of an external layer of thin leather and an internal sustaining-layer of buckram or equivalent fabric, substantiallyas herein set forth.

2. A hat. formed of an'external layer of leather and an internal layer of but-krain or equivalent fabric, pressed simultam-ously by dies into the desired form, substantially as set forth.

3 The process set forth for manufacturing leather hats, consistiin, in placing' a sheet of Y leather upon a sheet ot'buckram or equivalentfabrie, with the leather layer outermost, and

' then pressin' the two layers simultaneously, between dies, into the form of the desired hat,

substantially as set, forth.

JOIIAXXA lL-UCGEX.

\Vitnesscs: I

KAY Man-112s, Cats. )I. HIGGINS. 

